Laptop losing internet connection, shows network connection but doesn't load web pages

corr_xv · Apr 20, 2015

Hello, hope you could help me take care of this issue.

The Problem: this past week or so, my laptop's been losing internet connection after about an hour of regular use. I'll be working like usual, go to load a page, then find it never loads and I get the browser error page. I'm on a Windows 8.1 Dell Inspiron M731R using McAfee AntiVirus. I've found that restarting the laptop temporarily restores the connection, but as a student this isn't feasible as a long-term solution. Each time this occurs, the actual network connection is maintained and the problem is independent of wired/wireless connection and which browser I'm using.

Some attempts: I've tried some solutions found online related to this, including reinstalling the network adapter drivers, flushing DNS, changing power settings and booting into safe mode with networking. In safe mode, the problem doesn't appear to occur. I've uninstalled any programs that installed/updated around the time I think this started, to no change. I've also tried modifying the DNS server for the adapters, which worked once, and hasn't again. Additionally, switching from wired to wireless appeared to work, then the connection dropped out again.

Other details: when the issue occurs, some other programs (e.g. the Mail App, Word 2013) suffer greatly in performance, but that's probably because of the required internet connection. Using the Windows Troubleshooters has done nothing except point out the Diagnostic Policy Service is not running. I've ran MalwareBytes as per one suggestion, and that came up clean.

Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

sirstinky · Apr 20, 2015

You have done a great job of troubleshooting it-DNS and proxy issues are some common problems. Does it do it when running on the wired network (plugging it in instead of WiFi)? You could also try disconnecting from the network, rebooting your router, and reconnecting (make sure to "forget" the network first, then search for it and connect). I've found that sometimes helps. You could also try a different DNS. Set your PC with a static IP, and you might want to set up an IP reservation with that IP in your router so it won't reassign you a new IP when the lease is up or every time you drop off the network. I've used Google's DNS before 8.8.8.8 and cleared up some issues with network drop out. Other than that, the fact it works in Safe Mode just fine tells me that there could be a conflict somewhere else. When In Safe Mode, some drivers and ancillary processes are disabled or inaccessible (display drivers, some system files), which makes it good for diagnosing viruses. If none of what I recommended works, then it might be a bigger issue. As a last ditch effort for some machines, I do a clean Windows install and it usually clears it up. If it doesn't then I can deduce it's a hardware-related issue.

corr_xv · Apr 20, 2015

The problem occurs on both wired and wireless connections. The one temporary fix did involve forgetting the wireless network and reconnecting, so I'll take a hack at that again. I'm using the school's internet, so I don't think I can do anything router-related. The temporary DNS fix was a connection first to Google's DNS, and then to OpenDNS, and I'll probably try that again as well. Is there a way to track changes made by the system, so I could pinpoint when this occurs? Or maybe a way to troubleshoot by cross-referencing safe mode? Thanks.

sirstinky · Apr 20, 2015

corr_xv :

I see. The fact you are on the school's network may be part of the problem. Sometimes networks can get bogged down with traffic and randomly drop connections, or you get page timeout messages from the PC trying to contact the remote server. The fact it happens wired and wirelessly points in that direction. It could be that the school has a slow broadband connection. When i worked in IT, that was one thing we recommended to all our customers: Get the fastest broadband you could afford.

That kind of makes it difficult to rule out any gateway-related issues or set up IP reservations. You might want to check the Window's Event viewer. It logs all of your system's tasks and processes, and catches any errors or failures along the way. You get to the Event Viewer through the System Tools--Administrative Tools--Event Viewer. Or just do a search for it and you should find it. Look through the Event logs and see if there any long strings of red circles. Those are critical errors that the system has had to recover from. Look under both "System" and "Application" system is hardware-related, and application is software-based. It will be a loonngg list, so be patient and scroll through it. If you click on a red circle, it will give you information about the error. Do a Google search when you find one that is hardware-related. If you have a long list of red circles in a row, in my experience that indicates a piece of hardware is failing or having driver issues.

corr_xv · Apr 21, 2015

I'll take a look at the Event Viewer over the next day and see what comes up, thanks for letting me know about it. Seeing as nobody around me has had any other issues, and the fact that the problem just started out of nowhere a week ago, I'm really thinking it's not the school's network.

Urumiko · Apr 21, 2015

Can you ping the default gateway/google.com when it happens?

Event viewer is a good call.

Sounds silly but a firewall like comodo might help to take any background apps out of the equation.

Also turn off automatic updates if you haven't already.

corr_xv · Apr 21, 2015

I'll see if I can ping google the next time the connection drops out. After going through event viewer, I'm starting to think there's probably a thing with either Windows Firewall or McAfee Firewall, I'll have to check those out. Also, which automatic updates are you referring to? (I've got Windows update, and McAfee does auto-updates as well.)

sirstinky · Apr 21, 2015

Urumiko :

All of the above. Pinging is a good call. To do that, if you don't know how, start a command line, and after C:\username: type ping 8.8.8.8 (for Google) or whatever your gateway's IP is like 192.168.0.1. If you get no response or a timeout, or you get packet loss (usually you want 100%) then it means your connection isn't very strong and data isn't getting to the gateway or to the DNS.

corr_xv · Apr 21, 2015

Alright, I'll get around to disabling automatic updates.

After going through the event viewer, it appears that the connection drops are related to three services terminating: Base Filtering, Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) and Windows Firewall. Each service comes up with the error "The ______ terminated unexpectedly. It has done this 3 time(s)." This is either occurring immediately before or after the connection drop; I can't tell.

Additionally, here and there are "A pointer device reported a bad angular physical range" errors which tend to come in groups of 5.

As for pinging Google following the drop, it returns a request timed out error... then goes on to receive 3 of the 4 packets without issue and 1 lost (25%).

sirstinky · Apr 21, 2015

corr_xv :

As to those events happening before or after the drop, pay attention to the time when you lose connection, then cross-reference it in EV to see if the times are the same. If they are for one, but not the other, then you can get an idea of what is the cause, and what leads up to it. Once you do, you can start a diagnostic. Packet loss is usually a sign of a bad connection to the gateway, either because of signal quality (on WiFi) or some other interruptions over ethernet. I'd check the firewall as recommended and make sure it's not blocking you out intermittently.

corr_xv · Apr 21, 2015

So it appears the services terminate on the hour (here it's 12:01pm, processes stopped at 12:00:03) and the connection stops following the terminations. I've found a windows support thread with another user experiencing the same problem but with no solution, https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-networking/windows-81-losing-internet-connection-hourly/9611c842-447e-476a-a5ef-5f0dbd1ce283. I'm going to try a few things from there and see how it goes.

Edit: additionally, it appears the time before the connection drops is related to the number of times the services have restarted, as it's back to 1 for this most recent service termination, yet I still have a connection. This is consistent with the problem in the linked thread. Another ping test to google shows no packet loss or timeouts.

sirstinky · Apr 21, 2015

corr_xv :

I think it might be helpful to activate the Windows Administrator account. The Administrator account is designed for just that, diagnosing any issues that happen in the regular accounts (viruses, corrupted files, lockouts, etc.). Don't confuse it with being a computer Administrator because it's not the same. Look here on how to do it: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9650-built-administrator-account-enable-disable-windows-8-a.html

It's not a Microsoft account and can't be made into one, so you can do things independent of Microsoft Live's writhing minions and UAC. See if the problem repeats itself on the Administrator account and report back.

corr_xv · Apr 21, 2015

I'll take a stab at it with that, then, once I get back from class. Is there anything in particular I should look out for?

sirstinky · Apr 21, 2015

corr_xv :

Not in particular, just to see if the issue persists. If it doesn't go to the EV and see if those errors are still there, or if they've been deescalated to attention (yellow triangles).

srobin · Apr 21, 2015

try at a command line: ipconfig /release and then ipconfig /renew

I've had similar problems, and replaced my router.
You can also try to upgrade the firmware. Just be careful in upgrading the firmware and make sure you follow all the instruction, or you can "brick" the router.

corr_xv · Apr 21, 2015

I've tried ipconfig /release and /renew multiple times, doesn't affect anything.

I just finished checking with the administrator account, the issue does persist and all of the errors carry over in event viewer.

srobin · Apr 21, 2015

since this seems to work in Safe Mode, see if you can shut down programs or processes one at a time until you find the problem. My guess is a conflict with another driver.

Run msinfo32 and open Hardware, check conflict and sharing. This does not mean you have a problem, but it is a place to start.
also check problem devices in Components. These may give you a clue and what to shutdown.

corr_xv · Apr 21, 2015

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take a look at msinfo32. I think the problem is mostly the services (DPS, WinFirewall, BFE) shutting down and bringing things down with them.

Urumiko · Apr 22, 2015

By the way its normal for the first ping to drop the first time while DNS etc is recolving the name, dont worry about that.

These guys seem to know more about windows than me but i find it confusing that you would have windows and mcaffee firewall running together? Normally firewall programs replace windows firewall. It could be worth disabling one and seeing how you go. I also recomend comodo firewall as a free alternative if you need one. It might also be worth trying disabling unneeded startup items using msconfig, or trying safe mode with networking for a trial period.

srobin · Apr 22, 2015

The question I should have asked first is; when did this start? Did you change or install something recently?

you might try msconfig and selectively disable what starts.

Urumiko · Apr 22, 2015

srobin :

Fair point... if you know when it started, system restore might be worth a try and work from there.

corr_xv · Apr 22, 2015

Alright everyone, a few things here:

I've found a temporary solution, it doesn't resolve the issue causing the connection to drop out, but it lets me work until the school year ends, when I'll have a chance to possibly refresh my laptop without worries. Basically, whenever the connection drops out, it appears to be due to the Windows Firewall service terminating unexpectedly, as previously mentioned. Going to services.msc and starting the windows firewall service brings back my internet connection, and is much quicker than restarting the laptop.

@Urumiko: I might've had them both on, I wasn't really concerned with them until this problem started. I'll probably start checking startup services to see if one of them is causing an issue, since the clean boot showed no sign of the problem.
@Srobin: I first really noticed this problem around Monday the 13th, coming back from a 4-day weekend where I didn't really use my laptop that much. After going through the event logs, I've found that the event which probably led to this happening was a forced shutdown by me on the 11th for a frozen program (probably Flash, in retrospect); this was reported as a critical error in Event Viewer.

I'd like to have used a system restore, however I didn't have any restore points from before the day the problem started.

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